Would Apple Compensate Users Who Were Over Charged For Data Usage?

While number crunchers might award iPhone 5’s universal success, the latest iteration from Apple hasn’t been without its fair share of flaws. We could overlook everything and take these flaws for granted but the most undeniable in-your-face blunder has been Apple Maps, which Apple themselves have admitted.

Amidst all this havoc, the most recent flaw to be discovered was the increased amount of data usage by iOS 6 on iPhone 5. The issue was reported first by Verizon users after noticing a marked increase in their phone bills. Users reported that they were being charged even after turning on Wi-Fi. Apple took swift measures and fixed the issue for Verizon users, but the root problem remains. Who shall take claim of the bill?

The problem still exists globally however. Many users from Australia are affected, and since the issue lies in iOS 6, the problem extends beyond iPhone 5 alone. Apple Support Communities are flooded with help threads and megaton questions about how they can avoid paying the charges themselves. A user reported a bill of AU$1300 for using 5GB of data while another user reported a whopping AU$6000 for usage of 20 GB of data.

Mobile service providers across the globe are looking into the issue with their investigations. The preliminary issue that’s been discovered so far is that users turn off their data usage manually and switch to Wi-Fi but we all know how impractical that is, given the reliance on cellular data ever since the inception of high-speed mobile Internet.

At the end of the day, it’s hard to pinpoint the culprit in this dilemma since the users were right at their own end, mobile service providers haven’t been the cause of the problem from the get-go. Thus, the blame comes down to iOS 6. Yes, that means Apple.

Nobody accuses Apple for screwing it up intentionally but there’s no escape route for the industrial giant. But we assume it’s about time Apple made that use of the sum of that money paid by SAMSUNG. We can’t help but think that Apple will deny taking the blame but it’ll be pretty interesting to see how they can disentangle themselves from this one.

As of now the mobile service providers are dealing with their customers relating to the issue. It’s been reported from one user that Optus has waived their data charges as a result of this mix up.

The ball is in Apple’s court now and we’re keen to see how Apple respond to this.